MacKenzie Scott got a pretty hefty payday when she divorced Amazon founder, former CEO and all-around bajillionaire Jeff Bezos in 2019. The $38 billion dollar settlement she received made her one of the richest women in the world.
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But you may be surprised to learn that, although Amazon has faced criticism for lack of diversity in its highest paying jobs, Scott has been using her dough to do good, pledging to give away more than half of her wealth – including donating millions to non-profit organizations focused on supporting Black mothers and babies.
Most recently, Scott donated $2 million each to Birthing Beautiful Communities, an Ohio community-based doula program that supports Black mothers through pregnancy and childbirth and Center for Black Women’s Wellness, a community-based organization in Atlanta dedicated to the health of disadvantaged Black women and families.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related issue than white women.
In a statement on the organization’s website, Jazmin Long, President and CEO of Birthing Beautiful Communities, said Scott’s donation will help achieve the goal of opening Cleveland’s only freestanding birth center, where, along with providing a safe place for women to give birth, they will provide services including nutrition classes and doula trainings.
“This is something that is for Black women by Black women,” she said.
To date, the 53-year-old philanthropist has given out a whopping $17.3 billion to organizations that support people in underserved communities. This past March, Scott donated over $640 million to 361 organizations in response to an open call for applications from community-based organizations across the country.
Other awardees include Black Girl Ventures, an organization dedicated to helping Black women-owned businesses find access to the capital and Dance Institute of Washington, a D.C.-based organization focused on increasing diverse representation in professional ballet.
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